Method of mechanically milking.



J. L. HULBERT.

METHOD OF MECHANIGALLY MILKING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.29.1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

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W/TNESSESi J. L. HULBERT.

METHOD OFMEGHANIOALLY MILKING.

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 29, 1913.

1 089 839. Patented Mar. 10, 1914, 3 EHEETB-SHEET 2.

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J. L. HULBERT.

METHOD OF MEGHANIOALLY MILKING.

PPLIOATION FILED MAR. 29, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 19%

3 8HEETSSHEET 3.

I Ha INVEIVI'OI? (Jo/911 L. flu/bcr/ BY ATTOR/VEK UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE. 1

JOHN L. HULBERT, F POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, ABSIGNOB TO THE DE LAVALSEPARATQB COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY. V

METHOD OF MECHANICALLY MILKING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Ma 10 1914.

Application filed March 28, 1913. Serial No. 757,576.

T0 altwhom it may concern: sists of a flexible cup proper a, a ri d 55Be it known that 1, JOHN L. Htmnim'r, a outer shell 6, a cushion 0, a ri'd cap a citizen of the United States, residing at flexible mouth piecee and a tting g, all Poughkeepsie, county of Dutchess, and Statearranged and connected as hereinafter de- 5 of New York, have invented anew and usescribed.

ful Im rovement in Methods of Mechani- Thecup proper a is made of softrubber 60 cally lVlilking, of which the following is a or similarmaterial and surrounds the entire full, clear, and exact description,reference teat. The upper part is madethin so as to being had to theaccompanying drawings, be readily compressed around the teat. The whichform a part of this specification. lower part is given a greaterthickness, thus My invention relates to the extraction of making itstifi' enough to be nearly self-sup- 65 milk from cows.

The object of my invention is to prevent expansion of the milk passageand dilation of the teat during the milking operation.

My process consists in intermittently applying a squeezing pressure tothe base of the teat to cause the milk to flow therefrom, andsimultaneously with the application of such pressure to apply a lesserpressure to the remainder or lower portion of the teat, thereby securingthe result above named without obstructing the How of milk through theteat to the outlet thereof.

The execution of my process is not dependent upon the employment of anyparticular mechanism; but in practice I have successfully carried outthe process by means of a special type of teat cup combined with 'aspecial type of pulsator, as fully set forth in an application filed byme June 1, 1912, No. 700,951. In order, therefore, that my process maybe fully understood I shall describe the construction and operation ofthe means and instrumentalities set forth in my said application, butshall confine the claims herein to the process carried out thereby, andclaim the novel structural features in my said application.

porting under ordinary conditions of operation. From the lower end, theextension n forms a tube leading to the milk receiving chamber 10hereinafter described.

The rigid outer shell I) is, for considerations of lightness andcleanliness, preferabl made of aluminum, though other materia s may beused. The shell b has a bottom flange against which the ring 0 on thecup fits and an upper flange around which the thin upper end of the cupa is drawn and then fastened by forcing on the cap (Z. The shell I) alsohas openings for the nipples h and h. It protects the rubber parts fromin ury, provides an exterior support for the cushion (r, and forms theouter wall of the chamber f.

The cushion c is made of rubber or similar material and may be in theform of a bag surrounding the cup a and having the ends lapped or ofsuch other form as may be found satisfactory. It is secured in place bymeans of the nipple h hereinbefore mentioned.

The rigid cap (Z is, like the shell 6, and for the same reasons,preferably made of aluminum, and serves to hold the upper. end of thecup a to the shell and to support it 40 In the drawings: Figure 1 is aside elevaso that the pressure due to expansion of the tion of the teatcup employed by me in carcushion 0 cannot stretch it too far to tear itrying out my process. Fig. 2 is a vertical loose from the shell.sectional view of same showing the cush- The mouthpiece e is made ofrubber or ion deflated. Fig. 3 is a face View of the similar flexiblematerial and serves to seal 45 valve controlling one of the air passagesin the upper end of the cup around the teat the fitting. F ig. 4 is asectional view of a and prevent the leakage of air at this point.pulsator connected with two teat on s. Fig. It also prevents the contactof metal parts 5 is a cross-section on line 5-5 0 Fig. 4. with the teatorudder. Such contacts have Fig. 6 is a partial section showing out-letbeen found injurious in some cases.

50 from milk chamber to milk receptacle. The fitting 7, like the shellI) and cap at,

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 2. and for the same reasons,is preferably Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view, similar to Fig. 2,wlth the cushion inflated.

shown in the drawings con- The teat cup made of aluminum. It comprisesthe nipples h and h hereinbefore mentioned, both of which are screwedinto the body 9 of the fitting and have respectively the passages z andThese passages communicate at their outer ends with a vertical passagej-Z formed in the body of the fitting and at their inner ends with thecushion c and chamber f respectively. on is a flap-valve normallyclosing communication between passages and Z, adapted to open outwardtoward passage Z to permlt air to be exhausted from the chamber butadapted to close upon admission-of pressure to passage Z to prevent thereturn of air to the chamber.

I will now describe the pulsator shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The pulsatorcomprises, in general, the milk receiving chamber 10 and the valvecasing 11. 12 is the outlet from the milk receiving chamber leading to amilk receptacle (not shown). The pipe 12 is constantly under suctiontending to produce a vacuum or partial vacuum in the milk receivingchamber 10, in the extension '22, and in the interior of the teat cups.13 is a passage in the valve casing 11, the same connecting with thepipe Z. The valve comprises the valve proper 14 and the hollow valvestem 15. The valve stem has a slotted portion 16 through which extends apin 17 connected with the valve proper 14. 18 is an inlet to the valvecasing from anysource of pressure supply. The inlet 18 terminates in anannular chamber 19 between the valve casing 11 and the valve proper 14.20, 20, are passages in the valve casing leading upward from the milkreceiving chamber 10 to the valve chamber. 21 is a passage or portthrough the wall of the valve stem 15 and communicating with the hollowportion of the stem. 22, 22 are passages in the valve propercommunicating with the exhaust port 23. 24 and. 25are communicatingpassages in the valve proper. The valve stem 15 does not make a closefit with the lower part of valve casing 11 but leaves a constrictedannular passage 26. 27 is a diaphragm chamber having therein thediaphragm 28. In the lower portion of the diaphragm chamber is a puppetvalve 29 controlling the atmospheric port 30.

When the valve 14 and valve stem 15 are in their lower positions, thediaphragm chamber 27 is, by passages 26, 24 and 20, in connection withthe milk chamber 10, which, being under vacuum, relieves the pressureabove the diaphragm 28, the puppet valve 29 lifts, and the air pressurebelow the diaphragm causes it to lift, lifting the hollow valve stem 15with which it is connected. The stem 15 lifts until the slot and pinconnection between itand the valve proper 14 causes the latter to liftalso. This brings passages 25 and 24 in communication with the source ofpressure supply and passage 25 in connection with the passages 13connecting with the pipe Z, into which air under pressure is thusadmitted, with the resultant operation upon the teat cups'hereinafterdescribed. At the same time, through passages 25 and 24 air underpressure is admitted beneath the valve, causing it to quickly completeits movement to the top. Through the constricted passage '26 pressure isalso slowly admitted to the'diaphragm chamber above the diaphragm 28which, with the valve stem 15, is forced down slowly, the movement beingpartly resisted by the compression of air below the diaphragm 28. Duringthe downward movement of the valve stem 15 the upper end of the slot 16strikes the pin 17 at the instant that the port 21 registers with thepassage 22. It then carries with it the valve proper 14. When thepassage 22 registers with the port 23 the compression in the space belowthe diaphragm 28 is relieved through the hollow stem 15, the port 21,the passage 22 and the port 23. A very slight further movement of thevalve 14 covers the groove 19 and cuts oif the supply of compressed air;but the expansion of the air in the space above the diaphragm 2Scompletes the movement of the diaphragm and, by the valve stem 15 andpin 17, carries the valve proper *4 to the position where groove 25communicates with passage 20. The air from below the valve 14 escapes tothe vacuum through passages 24 and 20, the milk chamber 10 and thepassage 12. Atmospheric pressure, acting on the top of valve 14,completes the valve movement and connects the pipe Z, through thepassage 13, groove 25 and passage 20, with the milk chamber 10 andexhaust, with the resultant operation upon the teat cups hereinafterdescribed. The valve is now in the original position and the cycle ofoperation is repeated.

To understand the operation of the teat cup, it may be assumed that thepassage Z is connected with the pulsator hereinbefore described, inwhich case the pipe Z would be alternately connected with pressure andeX- haust while the milk discharge from the tube a would be in constantcommunication with a source of suction but would receive pressure fluidonce in each cycle of operations of the pulsator. It will be understood,therefore, that, after each teat is placed in a cup, the vacuum isturned on, and thereafter the tube a is always, during operation, incommunication with the vacuum. At the time of adjustment, the passage Zis also connected with the vacuum. As the inside of the cup a and thechamber f are both in communication with the vacuum, the pressures arebalanced and the cup retains its natural shape, allowing the teat to bedrawn down into the cup by the vacuum. The passage Z is now disconnectedfrom the vacuum and connected with a source of pressure. The valve mcloses and prevents the pressure reaching the chamber f while thepassages j and '5 are open and freely admit the pressure to the cushionc, filling it and causing the upper portion of the cup to collapse andcompress the upper portion of the teat. The expansion of the cushiondrives all air remaining in the upper portion of the chamber f downwardand so causes a pressure on the lower part of the teat. It will beclearly seen that this pressure, though much lower than that of thecushion 0, will be higher than that inside of the cup a, which is incommunication with the vacuum of greater intensity than at the time ofexhaust of chamber f, as will be hereinafter explained.

5 The heavy pressure around the upper portion of the teat drives themilk out of this portion. Because of the pressure on the lower portionof the teat, the milk passage cannot swell and the milk must pass out ofthe teat into the cup and from there through the tube n to the milkreceptacle. The passage l is now disconnected from the source ofpressure and is again connected with the source of vacuum and the tube12.. The pressure. immediately escapes from cushion 0 until it and alsothat in chamber f a proximate the vacuum inside the cup a; ut be causeof the hindrance to escape of air offered by the frictional resistanceof the pipes leading to the milk pail and their obstruction by milk thevacuum is, at this time, less than that of the source of suction. Wereit not for this condition the pressure in 1 during the compression partof the cycle might be too small to obtain the results desired. Even if,during the compression part of the cycle, there should not be anabsolute increase of pressure in the chamber f, still there is anincrease in such pressure relatively to that within the cup, due to theconditions above explained. All flexible parts now assume their naturalpositions, the teat is again drawn into the cup a by the vacuum and thecycle is repeated.

It' will be noted that the same ressure which prevents the expansion oft 1e milk passage through the teat also prevents the dilation andcongestion of the end of the teat which would otherwise cause soreness.

The air escaping from cushion c performs several functions. 1st. Theescape allows the collapse of the cushion and the expansion of the cupat ready for the movement of the teatas previously described. 2nd. Partof the air escapes directly to the milk pail through the pulsator andmilk discharge pipe. 3rd. Because of a partial obstruction of the milkpipe, by milk, making a resistance to the instantaneous flow of the airto the milk pipe, a variable portion of the air passes through tube n tothe cup a and produces pulsations in the vacuum at this point. It alsomakes a variation in the mean intensity of the vacuum in the cup. If thecow gives her milk freely, the obstruction in the pipe is great, and theair escapes to the pail slowly, causing a I reduction in vacuum at thepulsator and cup. At the same time, because of the slow flow of air tothe pail, a large proportion of the air goes to the cup, causing a greatamplitude of pulsation. If the flow of milk is slight, the milkdischarge pipe is comparatively unobstructed, and the air from thecushions flows to the pail almost instantaneously, and little or almostno air goes to the cup. This results in a. higher mean vacuum at thepulsator and cup and also a lesser amplitude of pulsation in the vacuum.In fact, with heavy flows of milk the maximum vacuum at the cup is lessthan two-thirds that atthe milk pail and the amplitude of pulsation isfrom about atmospheric pressure to the said maximum vacuum. With veryslight flow of milk, as when stripping, the maximum vacuum ispractically equal to that in the milk pail, while the amplitude ofpulsation is often so slight as to be almost a continuous suction.

\Vhile I have hereinbefore spoken of a i vacuum, I adopt that term forpurposes of convenience, and mean thereby to cover any degree ofpressure less than that of the atmosphere. While I have also spoken of Iincreasing the pressure upon the outside of that part of the cup adaptedto surround the lower portion of the teat during the application ofpressure to the base of the teat,

I do not mean to limit myself to an actual increase of the pressurewithin the space around the lower part of the cup, but mean to includeany condition, including an absolute diminution of such pressure,provided such pressure increases relatively to the pressure within thecup.

From the foregoing description of my new process it will be understoodthat it is especially adapted for use in connection with, and to moreeffectively carry out, the process set forth in the patent issued to meOctober 29, 1912, No. 1,043,013.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in intermittentlyapplying a squeezing pressure upon the base of the teat and in unisontherewith a substantially lesser pressure upon the lower part of theteat, thereby, during the squeezing pressure upon the base of the teat,maintaining a supporting pressure upon the lower portion of the teat toprevent expansion of the milk passage and dilation of the teat whilemaintaining the milk passage open and insuring the free discharge ofmilk therefrom.

2. The method of mechanically milking which consists in intermittentlyincreasing the pressure upon the base of the teat and substantiallysimultaneously therewith insure upon the base of the teat and substantially simultaneously therewith applying a pressure of a lesser degreeupon the remainde'r of the teat, maintaining said pressures in unisonand substantially simultaneously removing said pressures.

4.; The method of mechanically milking which consists in flexiblyinclosing and supporting substantially the entire teat, inter mittentlyapplying a squeezing pressure upon the base of the teat to expel themilk therefrom and substantially simultaneously therewith increasing thepressure upon the remainder of the teat to a degree suificient toprevent substantial dilation or expansion but insufficient to producesubstantial constriction thereof whereby the'milk passage therein willbe maintained open to insure the free discharge thereof without injuryto the teat.

5. The method of mechanically milking which consists in applying asqueezing pressure upon the base of the teat and substantiallysimultaneously therewith applying upon the remainder of the teatpressure of a lesser degree sufiicient to prevent substantial dilationand expansion by the milk discharging t-herethro-ugh but insuflicient toproduce substantial constriction thereof, and alternately therewithremoving said pressures.

6. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in flexiblysupporting substantially the entire teat, intermittently applying apressure upon the base of the teat and, while applying suction to thedischarge portion of the teat, increasing the suction simultaneouslywith ,said application of pressure upon the base of the teat, wherebythe remainder of the teat is subjected to external pressure of a lesserdegree.

7. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in intermittentlyapplying a relatively strong pressure upon the base of the teat andsimultaneously applying a lesser pressure to the remainder of the teat,and applying suction to the discharge portion of the teat and increasingsaid suction simultaneously with the application of pressure upon thebase of the teat, thereby crcating an efiective supporting pressure uponthe lower portion of the teat during the squeezing action upon the baseof the teat.

stantially the whole teat, applying suction to the discharge portion ofthe teat, intermittently applying pressure to the base of the teat whilesimultaneously increasing said suction, and alternately therewithrelieving the pressure upon the base of the teat while simultaneouslydecreasing said suction, thereby causing the lower portion of the teatto be externally compressed during the squeezing action upon the base ofthe teat. a

9. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in flexiblyinclosing and supporting substantially the entire. teat, maintaining apartial vacuum within the inclosure, and intermittently applying asqueezing pressure to the base of the teatand simultaneously therewithincreasing the vaccum within the inclosure.

10. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in constantlysubjecting the discharge portion of the teat to suction, flexiblysupporting substantially the entire teat, intermittently applying asqueezing pressure to, and removing such pressure from, the base of theteat, and simultaneously with the release of said pressure diminishingsaid suction by the admission of pressure fluid.

11. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in intermittentlycompressing the base of the teat by air pressure and simultaneouslycausing'air displaced by said air pressure to compress the remainder ofthe teat.

12. The method of mechanically milking, which consists in connecting thedischarge portion of the teat with a partial vacuum while constantlyapplying to the portion of the teat below the base a degree of externalpressure, intermittently subjecting the base of the teat to a squeezingaction and alternately therewith admitting air into the milk dischargethereby during the-squeezing action upon the base of the teatmaintaining the pressure required to prevent expansion of'the milkpassage or dilation of the teat.'

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, atPoughkeepsi, N. Y., on this 20th day of March, 1913.

JOHN L. HULBERT. Witnesses:

H. F. WVEIMA'R, N. W. MERRILL.

